Runners, scuba divers, environmentalists and concerned individuals gathered on Silliman Beach at dawn last Saturday, May 5, to celebrate Earth Day.
A fun run, beach clean-up and other environmental actions were all meant to educate, advocate and mobilize people to action and help reverse global warming, said Zephanie Danieles, 350.0rg national coordinator.
“This day is dedicated to the earth and to all the people living in it that a healthy tomorrow depends on our action today,” Danieles said.
The earth’s temperature has been rising in the last five years which has disturbed weather patterns characterized by stronger storms, drought and unpredictable seasons, she said.
The morning began with a Run for 350 Mangrove Trees. The runners, led by the Metro Dumaguete Runners Club made their way from Silliman Beach to Silliman Ave. and back before planting and adopting 350 Mangrove propagules in a nursery prepared by BPI Bayan Dumaguete Cluster.
Mangrove trees, Danieles said, absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it into oxygen. Mangroves also combat the effects of rising sea levels, coastal erosion and flooding. These mangrove trees will soon offer refuge to fishes and help strain the creek and ocean of plastics.
Under the ocean, a team of divers led by Harold Biglete with friends and members of the Philippine National Police pulled up plastics from the coral and ocean floor. The divers, calling themselves SCUBAsureros, pulled up several sacks of plastics as one more step in saving the planet.
The day culminated at the Robinsons Mall where images of our Province suffering from the impact of extreme and destructive weather patterns became an avenue for teaching and reminding us all of the real and present danger of global warming affecting Negro Oriental. As the images were viewed, the dots were being connected by the viewing public in such a way that every destructive act imposed on the environment will come around and impose itself destructively upon earth and humanity.
The day of activity involved people from all sectors, led by 350.org Negros Oriental and joined by Foundation University, Silliman University Environmental Committee, St. Paul University Science Club, FENOr, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Dumaguete Amateur Runners & Striders (DARS), the barangay council of Bantayan, Dumaguete City Council, GP Rehab, the Provincial Philippine National Police, Century Security Agency, YATTA, and the Sangguniang Kabataan of Barangay Bantayan. (PR)
